Reflections and ramblings from life in community in Birmingham city centre.

Saturday, 23 June 2012

Charity and Justice - part 2

Charity is something I struggle with. I acknowledge its
necessity in a world where injustice and poverty persist and I recognise the
positive benefits it can bring to individuals and communities. On the other
hand, I am uncomfortable with the presentation of charitable giving as a
universal good because while I celebrate its potential benefits, I also fear
its dangers. The risks for those receiving charity are well documented, with
organisations anxious to show they are providing appropriate and directed
assistance and that they are not creating a culture of dependence but rather
helping recipients to help themselves; but I fear more for the dangers for
those of us on the giving end.

Charity is a necessary evil in a world in which injustice
persists. A world which is richer than it has ever been, and yet where children
still die of hunger and of treatable diseases. While charity does indeed help
some of the victims of injustice, it is not going to bring an end to the
persistent injustice which allows the rich to get richer at the expense of the
poor sinking deeper into poverty.

If we feel our charitable giving absolves us of our greater
responsibilities, as actors in a global system which maintains the oppression
of the poor, then it is doing more harm than good. A lot of charity undoubtedly
does much good. Meanwhile the effects of the global debt system and the
crippling effects of unjust trade continue to do many billions more pounds
worth of unspeakable damage.

Charity is never an excuse to allow exploitation to
continue. Giving to charity should not be a salve to our consciences to allow
life to go on just as it did before. It should not allow us to say, I can
continue to live as I do because I have put my pound in the charity box.
Rather, it should serve as a reminder that poverty and injustice persist, and
as a challenge to fight for justice, equality and change. Giving to charity should
not be something we do to make ourselves feel better about the suffering we see
as inevitable, but be part of our belief that another world is possible.

Our charitable giving this year has been nine months of our
time, and yes, I feel that we have made a difference here. On Tuesday when we
handed over the programmes of study and planning that we have spent the year
developing to the directors of the eight training centres in the Philippines
South province; the reception suggested that our efforts have been worthwhile
and are appreciated and valued by those for whom it is intended.

I feel we have made a difference here, but I will not go
home thinking I have done my part and done enough. I will go home refreshed and
renewed to campaign for justice. I will go home reminded that while the
Philippines is not entirely innocent of its own failings; above all else our
students have been failed by a global trading and financial system that has
kept their country locked in poverty. I will go home knowing that my government
can do more to solve the problems in the Philippines than theirs can. I will go
home knowing that while giving my time and my money will help these students,
the greatest gift I can give them is not my pound in a charity box, nor even my
English lessons, but believing in and campaigning for radical change on a
global scale.